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i too have it in series, and did it with engine in, i used copper it bends..

just need to pull hood cradle ,,plate that has hood latch.

Given the comments and learned opinions of Randy, O-D and the boys from Nevada, my 56 may be "cruisin' for a brusin." The previous owner, after four or five attempts to get a leak-free re-coring of the original Packard radiator, installed a brand-new F-250 Ford radiator (I'm not sure if it was Diesel or gas, but it's all-metal and no plastic) that fit the space beautifully, requiring only a bit of fabrication work on the lower cradle. Of course, it came with the internal transmission cooler and fittings, so that's when the original Packard cooler went into the box and new lines were fabricated from the radiator to the Ultramatic. His work looks good and 5-6 years later, no apparent problems with the expedient Ford solution.

I agree with the comment Craig made about it being more of a heater than a cooler, although heat exchangers work that way. But being installed on the lower end of the typical radiator flow, the cooled water coming out of the bottom of the radiator, wouldn't it be the lower temperature coolant flowing over the heat exchanger and trans fluid than the hotter stuff coming from the engine into the top of the radiator? I also wonder if the esteemed Packard engineers were forced to work with the contemporary Type A trans fluids of the time (Sperm-oil, etc) instead of the more modern Type-F that followed. That's what I'm using in the temperate Georgia climate and my Ultramatic seems to be shifting fine, having not been opened up in a very long time. Then again, we're all on borrowed time, aren't we?

Just in case, the original Packard trans cooler awaits an encore in a box on the shelf. And I wonder if the NAPA number for a standard transmission 55-56 Packard V8 might someday be the proper replacement part should I ever need a lower radiator hose replacement?

Kevin and Howard

Would send me those pics as a jpeg so I can send them to the mechanic forhim to reference.

Al

Quote:
If you mean those old engine photos above with the lines, be glad to send them but need an email address. Or, they are already jpeg so you should be able to just right click on them and save them to your computer. They will probably go to your download folder and save with some weird website numbers but you can rename them and send them on.

Most often we (myself included) call the device a transmission oil cooler; Craig has called it a heater. Actually it's both - it's simply a heat exchanger and a common piece of equipment in most every chemical plant in the world. The feed, once the engine has warmed up, is coolant from the radiator base which is a fairly constant temperature. If the transmission fluid that enters is cooler, it heats the fluid. If it's hotter, it cools the fluid. Just a simple exchange of calories to maintain a reasonably constant fluid temperature. The calories exchanged when it cools fluid is transferred to the engine coolant system and disposed of by the engine radiator.

I was watching an episode of "Gearhead's Garage" where Sam and Dave installed an oil cooler in a hopped-up pickup. In the show, the cooler was installed under the truck on a frame rail (common hot rod practice).

The oil cooler is a unit with the cooler radiator and electric fan. The fan is thermostatically controlled. The unit is made by B&M, the folks who have been making performance transmissions and parts for many years. It seems this cooler with fan could be something to consider.

(o{}o)